The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-05-16
MAILS AND STEEL III \.
Why . large lot Of English stool va, I'M

st5E ported, St Il n ~
''Cosd Short" IN Il. Loat Age Of Ststi. 4 /.
In some departments over.produc.ion
has been brought about by the seemingly
incurabls disposition Of some Of the mem.
bers to talk about and very often exagper.
ate the profits Of the business, and with
the kindred fault, impolitic, imprudent
EMULATION, publish them, boast OF them.
This was the indiscretion that tarnished
the gliding which In former days decora.
tod the nail business. It begat compe.
tition such as nothing but cupidity
does and soon dimmed the ploes that
covered this business. II Ia now, OF course.
a favored heir to all the mishaps thai
overtaken the iron business, bat for some
years has not come In for full share Of
Its properties. In the struggle Tor trade
II looks at times as II It would be resolved
into the question OF the survival Of the
fittest or, to put 1t clearer, the stroncest
financially. With an even start in the
race, which should never come oil, the ten
Wheeling district factories will win, for
they have the prestige, the strength un.
equalled, and out Of thia district unobtain.
able similar natural advantages, aud they
and their predecessors made the business
what 1t Is In Importance amongst trades.
Just now the nail trade Is, as before re-.
marked, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS think ire.
t!ieyably, deplorably .demollshed-but
that is all bosh; there ia silver lining to
this cloud. The nail trade Is accustomed
to these attacks-they arc periodic; di.
rectly 1t will come up and be ss prosper.
GUS as at any time during the past i've
years, but 1t will never again return to the
old profits Of the COS or early '70's, until
the country growB up to the present out.
pnt or there Is some wedding out accom-
plished. ys ~
! have in former letters suggested q
Investigation OF production, a partial
transition OF capacities To other specialties
10 the nail men; but with only one excep.
ton, they did not take kindly to tho idea
at least they did not act on 1t. Some Of
them have built steel plants, but this was
only to further their nail business, they
stopped too soon. 1t looks now as Il
some Of them will have 10 face the music
and try their hands on another key,
for there are too many nails made by a
third. The wire nail has been currylnp
favor somewhat but except in small box
nailH 1t will never be a auccess-once
driven 1t will not draw, and to the farmer
or other consumer who iavors economical
practice and desires when opportunity
offers to use nail second time, the wire
nail will not do. The four corners or
shoulders on the square nail give 1t atay,
supplementary strength aud stiffness
shear them Oft to make the round or wire
nail and you have but the core left with
nothing to brace it, to give ittenacity.
Bessemer ateel does not occupy the ex-
elusive, the aristocrasic position it held a
few weeks ago-it too has thrown up the
sponge. This Is not the result OF over
production but OF simon pure stiff necked-
ness. It is not many moons since party
OF Western buyers came to this Ohio Val
ley market to place orders for steel
billets and elabs. Prices then ruled
Of $35 for the former and s33
for the latter. Those Western buyers
were received CURLY. $50 and $34 was
talked about by the steel magnates and
they affected to be not over desirous TO
book orders anyhow. The snubbed buyers
went East and placed orders for 5000
tons Of Britiah steel, enough 10 run them
through the Beason-it is coming in now
and our Ohio Valley eteel makers are
shutting down, looking on and waiting
until this $4,000 tons Of foreign steel is
worked up. This is as true as gospe.-and
just euch policy, such management rs this
has brought trade to it's present condition.